Vandals destroy trees at Syracuse school

Clay Willis/The Post-Standard Principal Daryl Hall of Edward Smith K-8 School in Syracuse surveys the damage done to one of the eight trees damaged by vandals during the long weekend.

Syracuse, NY -- Staff, families and students at Edward Smith School in Syracuse have worked hard over the years to landscape and improve the grounds, Principal Darryl Hall says. That included planting trees several years ago behind the school, near a spot known as the Reading Park.

Head custodian Frank Marsh arrived at work 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, after the long holiday weekend, to find eight of the trees twisted and broken. He saw the first immediately, next to the entrance of the playground, then the rest going up the hill.

The trees, mostly maple, looked like someone had bent them over as far as they could and stood on them until the slender trunks splintered. Maybe two can be saved – just their lower branches were broken off. Marsh said the area was littered with broken beer bottles and garbage.

He said he picks up messes after every weekend, but not like this. “You don’t break trees, you don’t break beer bottles,” Marsh said.

Police are investigating, Hall said.

“This is really kind of devastating that someone would do this since we’ve done so much work out in the back,” she said.

Different groups of people, under the direction of the school’s speech teachers, planted the trees, Hall said. There’s a brand new wildflower and pollinators’ garden nearby, but that didn’t appear to be touched, she said.

Edward Smith is located at Broad Street and Lancaster Avenue near Syracuse University.

Anyone with information about the vandalism can call the Syracuse Police Department at 442-5222.